


Dogs & Dates

by 00trumpet



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-27 00:27:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16691848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/00trumpet/pseuds/00trumpet
Summary: Alex needs to pet a dog and, well, Kelley has a dog.





	Dogs & Dates

Kelley goes running on her lunch break everyday. She swings by her house, changes into athletic clothes, picks up her dog, and goes for a run. 

It’s perfect, because it keeps her in shape enough so that when the kids she coaches on the local soccer team say  _ why don’t you have to run with us? _ she can just say  _ fine, I will _ and she doesn’t make a fool of herself by getting winded one lap into the five laps she expects from her ten year olds. (Which happened the first time, and she swore it would never happen again.)

She even  _ likes _ running, which is dumb, because who likes running? But she does, and she’s grateful for it. 

She’s about three-quarters of the way through her normal route when she slows her jog to more of a walk because she comes up on a crosswalk with a red light. She lets out a slow, deep breath and then nearly jumps out of her skin when she feels an incessant tapping on her shoulder. She pulls out one earbud and looks back to see a girl with watery eyes and who looks like she might be out of breath.

She’s wearing what are obviously business clothes, with her nice blouse, long skirt, and low black heels, and she has a purse hanging off of her shoulder.

“Hey,” she says with a heavy breath. She wipes at one of her eyes and sniffs. “Can I pet your dog?”

“Uhm,” Kelley says, because the combination of the absolute absurdity of the situation and the presence of what’s probably the prettiest girl she’s ever seen are enough to throw her for a loop. “Why?”

The girl looks at Kelley blankly for a moment before tears well in her eyes and Kelley raises both hands in innocence, as if to tell all of the bystanders  _ I swear I did not make this beautiful girl cry _ .

“No no no, you’re okay, it’s okay.” Kelley reaches out a hand to console her and almost pulls her in for a hug until she remembers that this girl is dressed like  _ that _ and she’s covered in sweat. “You can totally pet my dog. She’s the best at, like, comforting people, too.” It’s awkward and her words are stilted and Kelley can already think of a million ways that she would re-do this conversation, given the chance.

“Thanks,” the girl says softly, wiping at her eyes. “I’m sorry for crying, I just--”

“Nah, you’re totally good,” Kelley dismisses. She takes the girl’s arm and leads them to a bench nearby. “Here, Brooklyn,” she says, snapping to the space in between their legs and Brooklyn walks over obediently, sitting down exactly where Kelley had gestured. “My dog is the sweetest, really, and she would love some attention.”

“Thanks,” the girl says again, reaching down to scratch the fur behind Brooklyn’s ears. “I’m Alex, by the way.” She looks up at Kelley with a weak smile and Kelley grins brightly in return. 

“Beautiful name, I love that name. I’m Kelley.” Kelley’s smile somehow grows wider as she holds Alex’s gaze. “Could I, I don’t know, buy you a coffee sometime?” 

Alex gives her a confused look and Kelley shakes her head.

“As an apology for making you cry in the middle of a busy intersection,” she explains quickly. “Not like,  _ hitting on you _ ,” she says, and immediately frowns. “Well, also hitting on you, to be honest.”

Alex laughs and wipes away another tear. “Yeah, I’d really like that. For the apology and the flirting.”

Kelley laughs easily and Alex follows suit and from then on, everything is ridiculously easy.

 

\---

 

“I know a place,” Kelley says, full of certainty as she leads them down a road Alex has never been on. “It’s one of the only cafes that lets dogs as big as Brooklyn inside, so,” she shrugs and makes another turn down a street that seems impossibly too small. 

“And it has good coffee?”

“The best.”

 

\---

 

They find a couch near the back of the cafe that has a window overlooking some park, and Alex almost laughs because it’s kind of ridiculous how little of this town she’s seen. 

“I’m sorry I chased you for three blocks trying to pet your dog,” Alex says once they’ve been served their coffees.

“You did what?”

“Oh.” Alex frowns and glances down to her coffee for a moment. “Did you not know?”

Kelley laughs loudly, loud enough to turn a few heads. “No, Alex. I did not know you chased me for three blocks. I had my, uh,” she reaches down to lift one of her earbuds. “My new bluetooth headphones in. They work like a charm.”

“Oh.”

“Does that mean you thought I  _ heard _ you, kept running,  _ and _ you kept following me?”

“Well,” Alex starts, but she sighs and looks down at her hands. “I mean, I guess. I just saw your dog and  _ really _ wanted to pet her.”

“Apparently so.” Kelley smiles and looks at Alex in a way that makes Alex know that she’s just teasing, because Kelley is just that kind of person, and Alex feels like she’s already known her for a lifetime. “While we’re doing apologies anyway, I’m sorry for making you cry.”

Alex laughs almost in spite of herself and slumps in her spot on the couch, reaching to pet Brooklyn, who’s resting her head against Alex’s leg. “ _ You _ didn’t make me cry, my dumb ex made me cry.”

“Dumb ex’s are the worst,” Kelley says with a nod, raising her mug to clink it against Alex’s. 

“Yeah. And  _ my _ dumb ex broke up with me this morning  _ and _ got the promotion I’ve been working towards.”

“Oh, that sucks.” Kelley nods slowly, because she doesn’t really know what to say, and Alex leans a bit closer to rest her head against Kelley’s shoulder. 

“It does suck,” Alex says, taking a sip of her latte. “But thanks for letting me pet your dog.”

“Anytime,” Kelley says with a soft laugh, suddenly entirely too aware of how  _ warm _ Alex feels, pressing against her. “But wait, why did you cry when I talked to you?”

Alex sighs and leans forward to set her coffee mug on the table in front of them, turning to Kelley so she can talk with her hands. “I had just left my office building for my break when I saw you and Brooklyn jogging past me, so I was like,  _ I have to pet that dog right now, it’s the only thing that will make me feel better _ ,” she gestures as if she’s making a list with almost every word, and it’s entirely too endearing for Kelley to handle. “So I started jogging after you, thinking I’d catch you at a turn or something, but  _ no _ , because I am  _ not _ in shape and every fucking crosswalk decided to have a green light by the time we got to it, so it wasn’t until it had been damn-near three fucking blocks for me to catch up to you.”

Kelley smiles as Alex tells her story, falling a little bit in love with the Californian accent on a few words, which is oh-so out of place here in Raleigh, North Carolina, falling a little bit in love with the violent gestures she uses to tell her story, falling a little bit in love with her eyes and her smile and  _ everything _ about this pretty girl that she met no more than twenty minutes ago. 

“So when I finally caught up to you, and asked, and you said  _ why _ , well,” she shrugs with an exasperated sigh that makes Kelley laugh softly and reaches for her coffee again. “I guess it just all caught up with me. Getting broken up with, not getting the promotion, and then I just  _ chased _ some  _ random  _ girl for  _ three _ blocks trying to pet her dog, and,” she cuts herself off to take a sip of coffee. “Why? Why did I do that?”

Kelley reaches a hand out to rest it on Alex’s knee and gives her a soft smile that somehow makes Alex feel a million times better. “Well, you can chase me down anytime.”

Alex laughs and rolls her eyes, but the smile directed at Kelley betrays the false annoyance on display. 

Kelley’s watch starts beeping and her face falls when she reads the screen. “I’ve actually gotta get to work, but, do you think I could have your number?” She pauses for a moment but starts talking again before Alex can respond. “You know, incase you want to pet Brooklyn again or complain about your dumb ex or your dumb boss who didn’t give you that promotion you  _ totally _ deserved.”

Alex smiles as she looks at Kelley and her heart flutters for a moment and something about this moment; drinking coffee with a stranger, with this stranger’s dog’s head in her lap, after going for an impromptu jog in her nice  _ I’m getting a promotion today _ clothes, feels ridiculously perfect.

So ridiculous, so out-of-place, so  _ inconceivable _ , that Alex doesn’t think she’s ever been quite so happy. 

“Yeah. You can have my number.” She starts to pull out her phone and looks up to Kelley as she waits for the  _ New Contact _ screen to load. “You know, just incase I need to pet your dog.”

“Just for the dog,” Kelley dismisses, but the smile on her face betrays her words and the electricity she feels underneath her fingertips where her hand is still resting against Alex’s knee betrays the  _ I’m playing it cool _ vibe that she’s trying to have, but it doesn’t matter. “Or you know, if I wanted to ask you on a date,” she adds, as if it’s just an afterthought, as if it  _ isn’t _ what’s been screaming in her head since they got to the cafe.

“Or that,” Alex agrees. “But my number is for dogs and dates only.”

“Sure, Al.” Kelley smiles, and she wonders what it is about this girl that makes it so easy to smile. “Dogs and dates only.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope u liked this!! I actually wrote this bc irl a girl chased me down yelling "can I pet your dog" & I immediately fell in love w her so here we are  
> You can reach me on tumblr @whatthekellex, my kellex blog, or @beckysaucrbrunn, my main


End file.
